Supreme Court seeks Centre's reply on PIL challenging current CAG appointment procedure

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh issued notice on the PIL filed by an NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, and tagged it with the pending matter on the same issue.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Union government on a plea, questioning validity of the current practice of appointment of the Comptroller and Auditor General solely by the executive and the Prime Minister.

The plea claimed the practice was violative of the Constitutional provisions.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh issued a notice to the Union government on the plea filed by an NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, after hearing advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the petitioner.

The bench tagged it with the pending matter on the same issue. Bhushan contended that the question involved here was of independence of the institution. He claimed that audits by CAG of states like Maharashtra, where the BJP is ruling the state, are being stalled. In recent times, the CAG has lost its independence, he alleged.

The bench asked him to bring on record any instance of "deviation" in recent years to doubt the independence of CAG. Bhushan contended that the number of the CAG reports have been come down and the staff strength was declining. He argued that the court had earlier intervened in connection with the appointments of the CBI Director and the chief election commissioner to ensure their independence. Bhushan vehemently argued that similar directions are necessary for the CAG too.

“We have to trust our institutions also,” the bench observed, while referring to Article 148, which specified that the CAG has the same level of protection as an apex court judge regarding removal from office.

The bench, however, finally decided to examine the matter. The plea sought the direction of the court mandating that the CAG should be appointed by the President in consultation with an independent and neutral selection committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and the Chief Justice of India and in a transparent manner. The plea said that the direction for appointment of the CAG should be similar to the appointment of other bodies, including information commissions and the Central Vigilance Commission.